


non-material things

by psychopathicdorito (orphan_account)



Series: Adrinette April [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Adrinette April, Day 3, Day at the park, Established Relationship, F/M, adrien is a smol sad bab but marinette fixes that, adrienette - Freeform, also marinette and adrien are coincidentally at the park together, also no they did not sleep at the park adrien had to wake marinette up and bring her home thank you, in where tikki is done with plagg but doesn't say anything, post-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 21:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6442351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/psychopathicdorito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrien doesn't know what to do with his project, but Marinette changes that. (Day #3 of Adrinette April. Topic for the day: day at the park.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	non-material things

Adrien Agreste was on a mission. 

The teacher had given them their end of the school year project a few days back. “I need you to show me a picture of the one thing you love about the park. The winner’s picture will receive a cash prize and their picture and explanation will be exhibited on the park’s anniversary, so make this great.” she had told them. 

Around him, people started talking about how they would take pictures of the carousel, or the fountain, or other things that marked their memories as children.  


However, as a child, Adrien only remembered the park as a photoshoot, and he did not love that. 

There was literally nothing he could think about, so he knew he had to go there alone and take a picture of whatever he liked about the park itself. 

So far, after about an hour of him there, nothing had come to mind, and Adrien was ready to give up. 

“You should just give it up. I don’t see why you _have_ to pass it in. It’s just a couple of numbers, so what?” Plagg shrugged. 

“I just want to do it, Plagg. Don’t know why, but I just do.” Adrien sighed, slumping down on a bench. 

“Maybe your girlfriend can help?” Plagg suggested, pointing to a girl walking towards their way. 

“Marinette!” 

Marinette grinned, accepting the embrace Adrien gave her. “What are you doing here?” he asked, looking down at her. 

“Nature. Gives me inspiration to draw.” Marinette said, showing Adrien the sketchbook she had in her hand. “What about you?” 

“I haven’t found anything to submit for our project.” Adrien said sheepishly. “I’ve been here for hours, and still I can’t find anything.” 

“Well, I just took a picture of the gates.” 

“The gates?” 

“Yeah. Their design is so intricate, so beautiful to look at. It’s not just a long, black stick of metal that marks the park’s territory. It has thought put into it, elegance that captures the beauty of what’s inside the park.” Marinette explained, looking wistful as she glanced at said gates. 

Adrien gulped. How was he going to top _that?_

“But you should take a break.” Marinette added, turning back to Adrien. “You’re thinking about it so much that nothing will ever come to mind. Take a break, and it’ll come to you, I promise.” 

“See! I told you!” Plagg quipped. 

“You told me to give up.” Adrien glared. 

“Eh. Same thing.” Plagg shrugged. Tikki floated beside him, and she shook her head upon hearing his reasoning. 

Marinette did the same thing, and she took Adrien’s hand in hers. “Come on.” 

“Wait, where are we going?” Adrien asked. 

“We’re going to get you some memories of the park.”  


* * *

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a genius. 

For the next hours, Adrien and Marinette had done nothing but act like a normal couple would. They had gotten matching spotted balloons (red and black for Marinette, black and green for Adrien), ridden on the carousel, eaten some ice cream as they sat on the benches, played with a Frisbee, and then lay down on the grass as they stared up at the night sky, Tikki lying asleep in Marinette’s pouch and Plagg in Adrien’s messenger bag. 

“The stars are beautiful.” Adrien murmured. 

“Yeah. It’s always a wonder to see them.” Marinette agreed, Adrien’s hand entangled in her own.

“You see them all the time though, don’t you?” Adrien stated. “I bet that the view looks beautiful from your balcony.” 

“Yes, but they’re not as beautiful as the ones I see now.” 

“Why do you say that?” 

A blush crept over Marinette’s face, but she continued nonetheless. “Because everything is always better when you do it with people you love. Every time I look out at the stars, I’m always alone on my balcony. But right now, I get to do it with the person who’s brightened up my life the way the stars brighten up the night sky.” 

Adrien grinned – the same grin Marinette knew only Chat Noir gave. “And who would that be, my Lady?” 

Marinette stifled a laugh, sitting up and pushing Adrien gently. “You ruined the moment!” she complained, but the way her eyes sparkled told Adrien she had loved it. 

“Alright, I’m sorry, Bugaboo.” Adrien chuckled, shifting so that Marinette could lay back onto his chest. “Forgive me?” 

“Of course, kitty.” 

As Marinette fell fast asleep, Adrien suddenly realized that she was right. He hadn’t been thinking of the project, and because of his time spent having fun at the park, he had realized what he loved most about it. 

“What I did to deserve you, Mari, I don’t know.” Adrien murmured, stroking Marinette’s hair affectionately. “But I know I’m never letting you go.”  


* * *

“Alright, alright, settle down.” 

Adrien sent Marinette one last look before turning to face the teacher. He was certain she would win – no one had explained their picture more beautifully than her. 

“After having read all of your projects, I believe there is one that stands out the best, one that captures what we love most about the park once we think about it. This entry summarizes our love for the park beautifully, so I believe there is no other winner but this one.” the teacher smiled. 

Adrien’s classmates buzzed with excitement, certain that none of them would be hailed the winner. None of them believed that their entry did justice to what the teacher had just said, and Adrien was one of those. 

He was _certain_ Marinette was going to win. 

“I believe it would be a shame if I announced the winner without showing you the picture, so here it is.” 

Adrien looked up to the projected image, hoping for a picture of the park’s elegant gates, but all he saw was a picture of Marinette herself. 

“Monsieur Agreste? Would you like to come here and explain your winning entry?” 

_He_ had won? 

His classmates clapped out of respect, but Adrien knew that they were wondering why Marinette was his entry and not anything about the park. As Adrien made his way front and face the crowd, he could see Marinette’s questioning face asked the same question.

It wasn’t a candid photo of Marinette. It was one Adrien had taken during their day at the park. She was laughing, the string of her red and black balloon tied to the wrist of her right hand. Looking back at it brought a smile to Adrien’s face, and he could just hear her golden laughter. 

“You may be wondering why I have a picture of my girlfriend as my entry.” Adrien started. “But I don’t have much memories of the park. There’s nothing I can look at there and appreciate much, so I didn’t really know where to begin. Marinette helped me with that. She gave me a day at the park I’ll never forget, and I think that’s the one thing I’ll always love about the park. It offers you to spend a day with the people you love most, to have a laugh, a picnic, to play, or just to hang around. The park gives us memories we could never forget because it allows us to spend those memories with our loved ones, to forget the stresses of our life and to just be happy. There are a lot of places like it, but I’ll always love it because of that day, because I had the time of my life in its loving arms with the people that love me, and the people that I love back. That’s what this candid photo of Marinette symbolizes to me: the joy that the park brings to people with its opportunities, and the love that blooms there.” 

It was silent for a while, until Nino stood up, clapping slowly. Alya followed after, clapping as well as she shook her head in amazement. 

Soon, the whole of the class was clapping, others like Kim whooping in delight. The teacher clapped along too, smiling at one of her student’s ingenuity. 

Adrien grinned, but before he could take a bow he ran over to Marinette’s seat and offered her a hand. 

Already teary-eyed from Adrien’s speech, Marinette took Adrien’s hand and allowed herself to be led to the front of the room. The clapping got louder, and Marinette let out a giggle as she and Adrien bowed together.  


* * *

“Did you put the money in a bank, then?” Marinette asked. 

She and Adrien were back in the park, sitting on a bench as they chewed on some of Tom’s freshly baked cookies. Adrien nodded, gulping the food down.  
“For the future.” he said, and turned back to her. “But since summer’s already here...” 

From his pocket, Adrien retrieved four plane tickets, and as Marinette read them, he grinned at the little squeal she gave. 

“Japan! We’re going to Japan! With Alya and Nino!” she squealed. 

“You bet we are, princess.” he grinned. 

“But what about Paris?” she asked suddenly, slumping. “We can’t leave Paris unprotected!” 

“Well, we won’t be.” 

“Huh?” 

“I asked Master Fu if we could take a little vacation – just for a week, like our little trip says. He says he had a little trick up his sleeve that could help protect everyone from being akumatized for a short amount of time, so there’s nothing to worry about.” 

“So we’re really going to Japan!” Marinette exclaimed again, giving Adrien a huge hug. “Thank you so much, Adrien!”

“Hey, like I said. Places to go, memories to make with the people I love.” 

And as the sun kissed the horizon, so did Adrien and Marinette.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I am so proud of this one for some reason. Also, I've successfully posted these three prompts despite my upcoming finals. 
> 
> Thanks to all the people who commented on my past works for this month! I love you all, please don't stop being awesome! HUGSSSS! 
> 
> Disclaimer: Miraculous Ladybug is owned by Zagtoon and Thomas Astruc. This work is a work of fiction and non-canon.


End file.
